Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-10-29
CHAPTER XIX.-CoNrINUED.


CHAPTER RXIX.-CoNTINUED.
It may, perhaps. be remembered that after
HI quarrel with Unslopogaas. Alphonse bad
gone OF in all exceedingly ill temper to sulk
over his scratches Well, it appears that bs
walled right past the temple to the Sun, down
IL vile road on the farther side Of the slope
e crowns and thence on into the beautiful
park or pleasure gardens, which are laid out
tust beyond the outer wall. After wandering
about there for little he started to return,
but was met near the outer gate by Sorais'
train Of chariots, which were galloping
furiously along the great northern road.
When she caught sight OF Alphonse, Sorais
halted her train and called TO him. On ap-
preaching he was instantly seized and dragged
into one Of the chariots and carried of, cry
ing out loudly as our informant said. and
q, from my general knowledge Of him, can
we'll believe.
At first was much puzzled to know what OBJ
let Sorais could have in carrying of the poor
little Frenchman. She could hardly stoop 50
low Is to try to wreak her fury on one whom
she knew was only q servant 1t would not
b In keeping with her character todo so. At
last, however, an idea occurred to me- We
three were, as l think l have said, much
rsvered by the people Of Zu-Vendis at large.
both because we were the first strangers they
hod ever seen, and because We were supposed
70 be the possessors of almost supernatural
wisdom Indeed. though Sorais' cry against
tie "foreign wolves" or, TO translate it more
accurately. foreign hyenas," was sure to 60
wall With tho mobiles and the
priests, it was not, as we learned, likely to be
particularly effective among the balk Of the
population. The Zu-Veudi people, like the
Athenians Of old, are ever seeking for some
new thing, and just because we were 20 new
our presence was. on the whole, acceptable to
them. Again, Sir Henrys magnificent per-
sooal appearance made a deep impression
upon a race who possess q greater love Of
beauty than any other have ever been &C.
quainted with Beauty may Be prised in
other countries, hut in Zu-Vendis it is almost
worshiped, as, indeed, the national love OF
statuary shows. The people said openly in
the market places that there was not man
In the country to torch Curtis in personal
appearance, as, with the exception Of Sorais,
there was no woman who could compete with
Nyleptha. and that therefore it was meet that
they should marry; and that he had been
sent by the Sun as husband for their queen.
Nov, from all this It will be seen that tho
0utcry against us was to q considerable ex-
tent fictitious, and nobody knew It better
than Sorais herself. Consequently it struck
ne that it might have occurred to her that
down in the country and among the country
people it would be better to place the reason
Of her conflict with her sister upon other and
more general grounds than Nyleptha's mar
riage with the stranger 1t would be easy In
Q land where there bad been so many civil
wars to rake out some old cry that would
stir up the recollection of buried feuds, and,
indeed, she soon found an effectual one This
being SO, it was Of great importance to her
10 have one of the strangers with her whom
she could show TO the common people Is Q
great outlander, who had been so struck by
the justice of her cause that he had elected
70 leave his companions and follow her
Standard.
This, no doubt, was the cause of her anxiety
to get hold Of Good. whom she would have
used till be ceased to be Of service and then
cast OF But Good having drawn back, she
grasped at the opportunity Of securing Al
phonse. who was not unlike him in personal
appearance, though smaller, no doubt with
the object of showing him of in the cities and
country as the great Bougwan himself
told Good that l thought that that was her
plan, and his face was a sight to see, be was
70 horrified at the idea
~What!" be said, -dress mp that little
wretch to represent met Why, I shall have
70 get out of the country! Ny reputation will
Be ruined forever
Iconsoled him as well as I could, but it Il
not pleasant to be personated all over q
strange country by an arrant little coward,
md can quite sympathize with his vexa-
ton.
Well, that night Good and messed, as I
have said, in solitary grandeur, feeling very
much as though we had just returned from
burying a friend instead of marrying one,
md next morning the work began in cord
eaznest. The messages and orders which bad
ben dispatched by Nyleptha two days before
now began to take effect, ard multitudes Of
armed men came pouring into the CITY, We
Aw, as may be imagined, but very little Of
Nyleptha and not too much Of Curtis during
those next few days. but Good and sat daily
with the council Of generals and loyal lords,
drawing up plans Of action, arranging COM
matters, the distribution Of COM
mnnds, and a hundred and one other things
Men came in freely, and all the day long the
great roads leading to Milosis were spotted
with the banners of lords arriving from their
places to rally round Nyleptha
After the first two days it became clear
that We should be able to take the field with
about forty thousand infantry and twenty
thousand cavalry-a very respectable force,
how short WAS the time We had
10 collect it, and that about half OF the req -
lar army had elected to follow Sorais.
But If our force was large, Sorais' was,
according to the reports brought in day by
day by our spies, much larger She had
taken up her headquarters at q very strong
town called MArstuna, situated, as have
aid, TO the north Of Milosis. and all the couu-
try side was flocking to her standard Nasta
bad poured down from mis- highlands, ana
was on his way to join her with no less than
twenty five thousand Of his mounraineers
the most terrible soldiers to face in all Zu.
VsndiS Another mighty lord, named Belu-
sha, who lived in the great horse breeding
district, had come in with twelve thousand
cavalry, and so on. Indeed, what between
one thing and another, it seemed certain that
ono hundred thousand men.
And then came the news that she was pro-
posing TO break up her camp and march on
the Frowning City itself, desolating the coun-
try as she came. Thereon arose the question
whether it would be best to meet her at
Ailosis or to go out and give her battle.
When our opinion was asked upon The sub
ject, Good and l unhes,tatingly gave it in
favor of an advance. II We were to shut our
selves up in the city and wait to be attacked,
It seemed to US that our inaction would be
Det down to fear. 1t is SO very important,
specially on an occasion Of this sort, when
very little will suffice to turn mems opinions
ono way or the other, to be up and doing
Ardor for Q cause will sson
evaporate IL the cause does not move, but sits
down to conquer. Therefore We cast our
ant md ,iv,,, hot< s,rS